The Houston Astros will be moving after the 2012 season; not from Houston or their stadium, but from their league, the National League, the league they’ve called home since their debut season 50 years ago in 1962. The Astros also have a new owner and their shift to the American League was a condition of that sale.

When it comes to the Houston Astros any major change to the franchise raises questions amongst the logo and uniform community about what they’ll do branding-wise when the change happens.

If the Astros do redesign their logo, use the script logo from that era as their main logo but modernized slightly. Use the current star logo. The current colours aren’t bad, but midnight navy, red-orange and sand combo would look great.

I will never understand why a team that was renamed in honor of Houston’s significance in putting a man on the moon re-branded itself using a railroad theme. It’s as if NASA and the Apollo space program is as insignificant and forgettable as the 1967 World’s Fair that the Montreal Expos were named after.

I think the name Astros comes from the space industry in Houston. Therefore, there’s no need to change. True, they might have rebranded the team when they moved to the Astrodome (with astro turf), but there really isn’t a reason to change the name. Re-do the uniforms but keep the current star.

I wouldn’t have minded either Colorado or Arizona moving to the AL West. Simple reason, neither of them have been around as long as the Astros. But if this is going to generate a Texas hold-em rivalry, this is okay.